During the
holidays I picked up a ten pound bag of russet potatoes on sale for $2.99. I know that normally buying a bag of potatoes
that large is more than I can use up before they go bad isn’t a wise
decision. I usually buy a five pound bag, but
when I saw that price my mind got busy.
Before I knew it I had a plan!
I wanted to
process the majority of these potatoes for the freezer and one of those
processes was to make my own frozen steak or French fries to keep on hand to
add to some upcoming meals I have planned.
By making my own fries I not only have the convenience of having them
ready to go in the freezer, but I also control all of the ingredients in those
fries. Plus, I saved a fair bit of money
in trade for my efforts.
I began by
peeling the potatoes I wanted to use and placed them in a large bowl of cold
water so they did not discolor. Then I
cut each one of them into steak fries placing them into a large pot I had
filled about halfway with water as I worked.
Once all the potatoes were cut up and the pot was full I turned on the
burner and waited until it came up to a boil.
Once the water
was boiling I blanched the potatoes in the boiling water for three minutes. Then I removed the potatoes from the boiling
water and placed them into a large bowl of icy cold water to stop the cooking process. I changed out the water as soon as it began
to feel warm with more icy cold water before draining them in a colander.
The potato fries
were placed back into the large bowl and I drizzled them with avocado oil
until they were all lightly coated. The
potatoes were then divided amongst two gallon size Ziploc bags. I laid them flat and pushed as much air out
before sealing each bag.
Each bag was
placed flat in the freezer and one the fries were frozen I jiggled them a bit
in the bags to make sure nothing was frozen together in clumps. These will likely get used up in the next
six months, however should I decide to make more I’ll be placing the frozen
fries into vacuum bags to seal them for longer term storage and placing those
bags into my deep freezer. The next time I
see a good price on potatoes I will most likely be buying them to do just that.
Now whenever I
want to make myself a diner style meal like fish & chips or a hamburger &
fries I’ll be able to quickly and easily make my own healthy steak fries. I like to make my fries in my little toaster
oven and I find that if I start the fries first and then make the rest of my
meal they are perfectly cooked and crispy by the time everything else it ready.
Now if only I
could figure out how to make tater tots.
No, not really. I don’t think I
have that kind of time. Ha, ha, ha.
